Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Wednesday 8 December 1999

Scottish Executive

Employment

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received a request from Dundee City Council to meet a deputation to discuss recent job losses at Agritay in Dundee and, if so, when it intends to meet the deputation.

Henry McLeish: I have not received a request to meet a deputation to discuss. I have however been advised that the Council, Scottish Enterprise Tayside and the Employment Service are already involved with the workforce, providing the necessary help in finding alternative employment and offering appropriate advice on other options.

Environment

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what monies are available annually for research into waste recycling and how these monies, if any, are spent.

Sarah Boyack: Research into waste recycling is one of a number of topics funded by the Scottish Executive’s environment research programme. This programme has an annual budget of some £400,000 and is used to inform and develop policy on environmental issues. Recycling and waste research projects which have been supported in recent years include the composting of green waste; waste reduction, re-use and recycling in the Scottish Islands; and an assessment of priority materials to be addressed in the recycled market development programme (REMADE). The Scottish Executive will also contribute £50,000 each year for three years beginning in 1999-2000 to the REMADE project to develop potential markets for recycled materials. Future research will support the development and implementation of Scotland’s National Waste Strategy. Information on the general public’s use of recycling facilities is also being collected by the Scottish Household Survey, a major new continuous survey, commissioned by the Scottish Executive to provide information on a range of policy topics.

  Several other sources of funds are also available for waste recycling research. These include the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research and the landfill tax credit scheme.

Environment

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many landfill sites are operated by each local authority in Scotland, how many are operated by private companies broken down by local authority area, and what is the remaining life span of these landfill sites.

Sarah Boyack: Information on waste management facilities such as landfill sites licensed to operate in Scotland is held on public registers by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Information on the remaining life span of landfill sites would have to be obtained from operators of the sites.

Health

Mr Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether public funding, including Regional Selective Assistance, is required to be taken into account by NHS Trusts when considering tenders for NHS contracts.

Susan Deacon: There is no requirement for NHS Trusts to take account of public funding, including Regional Selective Assistance, when considering tenders for NHS contracts from competing companies.

Health

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be an acceptable period for a person with a hearing problem to wait, after referral by their GP, for a clinic appointment and fitting of a hearing aid.

Susan Deacon: There are many clinical reasons why a person may experience hearing difficulties. The timing of an outpatient appointment is a matter for the clinical judgement of the individual consultant based on the information provided in the General Practitioner’s referral letter.

Health

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that hearing aid equipment supplied to patients through the NHS is of comparable quality and modernity to that supplied to patients being treated privately.

Susan Deacon: Yes. Scottish Healthcare Supplies, the Division of the Common Services Agency responsible for arranging central contracts for the NHS in Scotland, closely monitors developments in this rapidly advancing area. This ensures that the range of hearing aids available is comparable in both quality and modernity to those supplied by the private sector. Decisions on which hearing aid best meets the clinical needs of a patient is however a matter for the clinician in charge of their care.

Justice

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil Non-harassment Orders have been granted in Scotland since they were introduced in 1997.

Mr Jim Wallace: The table below sets out the information which is recorded on civil Non-harassment Orders. Information is available from January 1998.

  Protection from Harassment Act Applications

  

 

1998 
  

1999 (to 31 October) 
  



Lodged 
  

148 
  

257 
  



Granted 
  

51 
  

69

Justice

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of convicted people are failing to complete their Community Service Orders within the 12-month period stipulated in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 and what are the reasons for such failure.

Mr Jim Wallace: This information is not held centrally. Courts may, on application by the offender or supervising officer, extend the 12-month period specified in the 1995 Act for completion of work under a community service order if circumstances have changed since the order was made. Such circumstances might for example include ill health of the offender or changes of employment.

Justice

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been made for extensions to the 12-month period for completion of Community Service Orders over the last five years and what this number is as a percentage of the total number of Community Service Orders issued over this period.

Mr Jim Wallace: This information is not held centrally.

Justice

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to ensure that s245(2)(d) of the 1995 Act, which places a statutory duty on local authorities to compile reports on the work done under a Community Service Order, is met.

Mr Jim Wallace: Section 245(2)(d) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 provides for rules regulating the performance of work under a Community Service Order or Probation Order to include the upkeep of records of work done by any person under such an order. The National Objectives and Standards for Social Work Services in the Criminal Justice System, which local authorities are required to follow, sets out guidance for authorities at section 50 of the standards for Community Service.

Justice

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next lay before the Scottish Parliament an annual report on the way that Community Service Orders are working in accordance with s245(4) of the 1995 Act.

Mr Jim Wallace: Section 245(4) provides that a report on the working of Community Service Orders shall be laid before Parliament each year or incorporated in annual reports already made. A report entitled Costs, Sentencing Profiles and the Scottish Criminal Justice System is published annually by the Scottish Executive and includes information on Community Service Orders, for example average cost and percentage use of the order. The next report will be published in March 2000.

Ministerial Correspondence

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to be able to reply to my letter of 24 August 1999 to the Minister for Transport and the Environment.

Sarah Boyack: I replied to Mr Johnston on 30 November.

Pensions

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty’s Government regarding the recent increase in pension rates for Scottish pensioners.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with United Kingdom Government Ministers and Departments on a wide range of issues, including pensions.

Police

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to issue a circular to all Chief Constables detailing the circumstances in which the police have the legal power to stop and question motorists and instructing the police not to exceed such powers.

Mr Jim Wallace: We have no plans to issue such a circular. Police officers in uniform have the power to stop vehicles under section 163 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Public Appointments

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to increase the representation of ethnic minorities and disabled people on Scottish public bodies.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Executive is committed to increasing the representation of ethnic minorities and disabled people on Scottish public bodies. Work is currently underway to target advertising of specific appointments and develop initiatives to raise awareness amongst ethnic minority and disabled groups. This will involve the Public Appointments Unit working with the newly established Equality Unit.

  We are also currently reviewing systems for appointment, including ethnic minority and disabled peoples’ representation, and I shall be making a statement soon.

Transport

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Railtrack about their engineering practices on the West Coast Main Line with a view to facilitating an early morning rail service from Lockerbie to Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Sarah Boyack: This is an operational matter for Virgin Trains and Railtrack. I understand that Virgin Trains, however, has made a formal request to Railtrack to accommodate a service from Lockerbie that would arrive in Edinburgh before 09:30.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Legal Expenses

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer under what statutory authority the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body can meet an MSP’s legal expenses.

Sir David Steel: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body operates under the statutory authority of the Scotland Act 1998. Under section 21 of the Act it provides the Parliament, or ensures that the Parliament is provided, with the property, staff and services required for the Parliament’s purposes. It is in reliance on that statutory authority that the SPCB has agreed to meet an MSP’s legal expenses in connection with a court case brought against that Member but which raises important issues of principle concerning the Parliament’s main purposes, and the powers of the courts to intervene in them. The judgement itself addressed these wider issues.